After repeating the same unconvincing arguments about Obama's true feelings about gun control, there was some new material here about background checks.
Instead, the Brady Act background checks for gun purchases, in place since 1994, are a problem for law-abiding citizens. Hardly ever do background checks deny guns to criminals. Over 99.9 percent of purchases initially flagged as being illegal under the law were “false positives” – law-abiding citizens incorrectly identified as banned individuals.Of course, I find his citations a bit suspect. But the real problem is he doesn't mention the tens of thousands of disqualified people who DO NOT attempt to buy a gun legally in 2008. These guys either used straw purchasers, bought from private sellers or other criminals or did without.
Take the numbers for 2008, the latest year with data available. The 78,906 initial denials resulted in only 147 cases involving banned individuals trying to purchase guns being referred to prosecutors. Of those 147 cases, prosecutors thought the evidence was strong enough to prosecute only 105, and they won convictions in just 43. But few of these 43 cases involved career criminals or those who posed real threats. The typical case was someone who had a misdemeanor conviction for an offense he didn't realize prevented him from buying a gun.
This is the real proof that background checks work, but it takes common sense and honesty to recognize it.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
